EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[austinpop]

16 minutes ago, Dev said:

Hi Folks,

 

I received a eR couple of days back and having some network issues for which I need some help

 

My network is as follows:

 

                                                                                     Fiber

Orbi Wireless Router ------> EdgeRouter Switch -------------->  eR (B) ---> NUC7i7 ---> DAC

                                                      ^

                                                       |

                                                    NAS

 

I have reserved IP address for the NUC and NAS in the Orbi. So it supposed to get fixed IP address every time it request for DHCP.

 

In this setup the eR just replaced another switch. Before I got the eR, this network topology have been rock solid as its quiet simple. Every time I rebooted the NUC (or for that matter any devices in the network, like the NAS), it would connect to the network without any glitch. The problem started when I introduced the eR.

 

The issue for me if I reboot the NUC or I disconnect power to the eR and reconnect it back, the NUC would not be able to connect back to the network again. I am running Euphony on the NUC and hence I don't have shell access to troubleshoot anything.

 

On the eR side, I see both the orange (link) and green (activity) leds lit and on the NUC both are green (link is green since it negotiates at 100Mbps). On the Edgerouter, the fiber link is up at 1Gbps.

 

I ran packet capture on the Edgerouter and I don't see any DHCP request coming. Is it possible that eR may not be forwarding it for some reason ?

 

Sometime it works when I reboot the entire network chain - wireless router, edgerouter, eR, NUC and then it would connect but not always, sometime it connects just by rebooting the edgerouter and NUC. So its random and there is something to it that I am not able to understand.

 

I haven't tried setting the link speed specifically at 100Mbps in Euphony as auto-negotiate seems to work but not always - if I disconnect the ethernet cable and reconnect it, some times (not always) the link is negotiated at 10Mbps. Reboot of the NUC fixes this issue though.

 

ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
Supported ports: [ TP ]
Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                       100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                       1000baseT/Full
Supported pause frame use: No
Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
Supported FEC modes: Not reported
Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                       100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                       1000baseT/Full
Advertised pause frame use: No
Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
Speed: 10Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: Twisted Pair
PHYAD: 1
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
MDI-X: on (auto)
Cannot get wake-on-lan settings: Operation not permitted
Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
      drv probe link
Link detected: yes 

 

Any ideas ? 

 

 

Try turning EEE off on your NUC's NIC? This is just a shot in the dark, given the EEE problems reported in the early firmware.

 

Try ethtool --show-eee eth0 and see what it shows. If EEE is enabled, then:

 

ethtool --set-eee eth0 eee off

[austinpop]

13 minutes ago, Dev said:

I am running Euphony on the NUC and hence I don't have shell access to troubleshoot anything.

 

You can get shell access by ssh'ing to the Euphony machine using creds audiouser/euphony

 

What you won't have is root access. You should be able to issue the set-eee command using the ethtool line in Advanced settings. Željko told me recently he was working on a way to issue multiple ethtool invocations, so check with him if he has something.

[Dev]

2 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Try turning EEE off on your NUC's NIC? This is just a shot in the dark, given the EEE problems reported in the early firmware.

 

Try ethtool --show-eee eth0 and see what it shows. If EEE is enabled, then:

 

 

ethtool --set-eee eth0 eee off

 

Though EEE is enabled but its inactive on the NUC side since the link partner, i.e. the eR doesn't support it. It also means that the eR has the latest firmware ?

 

I will try to explicitly disabling it but at the moment I can't connect the NUC to the network due to this issue. I am randomly trying different things out but can't make it work. If I still can't connect, I will remove the eR and go from there.

[Dev]

2 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

You can get shell access by ssh'ing to the Euphony machine using creds audiouser/euphony

 

What you won't have is root access. You should be able to issue the set-eee command using the ethtool line in Advanced settings. Željko told me recently he was working on a way to issue multiple ethtool invocations, so check with him if he has something.

 

Yes, Željko is doing it on my request. I have a ticket filed with him two weeks back.

[austinpop]

2 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

Though EEE is enabled but its inactive on the NUC side since the link partner, i.e. the eR doesn't support it. It also means that the eR has the latest firmware ?

 

I will try to explicitly disabling it but at the moment I can't connect the NUC to the network due to this issue. I am randomly trying different things out but can't make it work. If I still can't connect, I will remove the eR and go from there.

 

You may be right, I may be crazy. I ran the show-eee on my server with the JCAT Net Card, and it shows:

EEE Settings for eth0:
    EEE status: enabled - inactive
    Tx LPI: 0 (us)
    Supported EEE link modes:  100baseT/Full 
                               1000baseT/Full 
    Advertised EEE link modes:  100baseT/Full 
                                1000baseT/Full 
    Link partner advertised EEE link modes:  Not reported

 

This machine has zero issue with the eR.

[Dev]

I think I found the culprit to be eR's SFP port. When I replace the eR with another switch with SFP port, it just works as expected.

 

The Edgerouter end shows the link to be up but it's receiving 0 traffic when its connected to eR using fiber.

 

To troubleshoot this I connected the eR with a long Ethernet cable I had in hand to the Edgerouter (which in another room) and bingo - it started working.

 

Funny that the same SFP worked for couple of days initially. I already had intermittent trouble with connectivity earlier but today it totally stopped working - no matter what I do, it just would work. I tried different transceivers, 850nm, 1310nm but nothing. So my take is that something gone bad with the h/w ?

 

let me know if there is anything else I can try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnSwenson]

1 hour ago, Dev said:

I think I found the culprit to be eR's SFP port. When I replace the eR with another switch with SFP port, it just works as expected.

 

The Edgerouter end shows the link to be up but it's receiving 0 traffic when its connected to eR using fiber.

 

To troubleshoot this I connected the eR with a long Ethernet cable I had in hand to the Edgerouter (which in another room) and bingo - it started working.

 

Funny that the same SFP worked for couple of days initially. I already had intermittent trouble with connectivity earlier but today it totally stopped working - no matter what I do, it just would work. I tried different transceivers, 850nm, 1310nm but nothing. So my take is that something gone bad with the h/w ?

 

let me know if there is anything else I can try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are all the SFP modules from the  same manufacturer? We have seen tha for a very small number of people that the modules from a company may not fully mate with the connector in the ER. When using modules from different manufacturer the problem goes away.

 

The connector and spacing between the connector and cage all meet the SFP specs, but I'm guessing that once in awhile there are very slight physical differences between modules that can prevent a small number of them from connecting all the pins.

 

We have had reports that people with such a module have been able to fix the problem by very firmly pushing the module into the cage.

 

If this doesn't work changing to a different manufacturer does seem to fix the problem.

 

John S.

[Dev]

2 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

Are all the SFP modules from the  same manufacturer? We have seen tha for a very small number of people that the modules from a company may not fully mate with the connector in the ER. When using modules from different manufacturer the problem goes away.

 

The connector and spacing between the connector and cage all meet the SFP specs, but I'm guessing that once in awhile there are very slight physical differences between modules that can prevent a small number of them from connecting all the pins.

 

We have had reports that people with such a module have been able to fix the problem by very firmly pushing the module into the cage.

 

If this doesn't work changing to a different manufacturer does seem to fix the problem.

 

John S.

 

Hi John,

 

Thanks for the insight. These sfp modules were working fine initially. I tried two different pairs - one from TP Link (SX) and the other is from Planetech (LX) which has been reported to be working fine with eR

 

https://planetechusa.com/product/mgb-tlx-mini-gbic-lx-module-20km/

 

The Edgeroute end shows the link to be up. I am assuming if the connector didn't made contact properly on either end, the link would probably not come up. However, I have no way to check this on the eR end.

 

I will retry pushing it firmly and see if I can make it work.

 

 

[russellbobby]

Hey Gang

Whats a solid Cat 6 or 7 cable that I can run 100 ft from my modem/router to the EtheRegen? Have a SoTm 77 from the EtherRegen to my streamer.  Going to be running part in wall.  
budget under a 100.00 or so 

thanks,

Russ

[ericuco]

45 minutes ago, russellbobby said:

Hey Gang

Whats a solid Cat 6 or 7 cable that I can run 100 ft from my modem/router to the EtheRegen? Have a SoTm 77 from the EtherRegen to my streamer.  Going to be running part in wall.  
budget under a 100.00 or so 

thanks,

Russ

Blue Jean Cables cat6 or 6a. Pretty popular cable here on AS. 6a cable is fairly thick so might want to go with 6 cable for running in wall.

[LowMidHigh]

1 hour ago, russellbobby said:

Hey Gang

Whats a solid Cat 6 or 7 cable that I can run 100 ft from my modem/router to the EtheRegen? Have a SoTm 77 from the EtherRegen to my streamer.  Going to be running part in wall.  
budget under a 100.00 or so 

thanks,

Russ

 

Buy a 100 ft Cat6 cable, some RJ45 terminators and a crimping tool. Very easy to make and transmits the signal flawlessly for a friction of the cost. 

[soares]

7 hours ago, Dev said:

 

Hi John,

 

Thanks for the insight. These sfp modules were working fine initially. I tried two different pairs - one from TP Link (SX) and the other is from Planetech (LX) which has been reported to be working fine with eR

 

https://planetechusa.com/product/mgb-tlx-mini-gbic-lx-module-20km/

 

The Edgeroute end shows the link to be up. I am assuming if the connector didn't made contact properly on either end, the link would probably not come up. However, I have no way to check this on the eR end.

 

I will retry pushing it firmly and see if I can make it work.

 

 

I must say that this module didn’t work with my eR. I received on Tuesday and no matter how I pushed it, it doesn’t work. Cheers Jorge

[Mcroth]

Ok to use an aftermerket power cord (Harmonic Tech AC 11) with stock ER power supply.  Trying now and seemed to smooth highs a tad. Thoughts?

 

Thanks! 

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, soares said:

I must say that this module didn’t work with my eR. I received on Tuesday and no matter how I pushed it, it doesn’t work. Cheers Jorge

 

Did you buy a matching one for the other end as well as a single-mode fiber cable? Because the transceiver he linked to is a single-mode type.

[Dev]

1 hour ago, soares said:

I must say that this module didn’t work with my eR. I received on Tuesday and no matter how I pushed it, it doesn’t work. Cheers Jorge

 

 

Can you let us know what worked ? there are number of folks using this transceiver without issues. in fact I got the link from this thread only.

[Dev]

9 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Did you buy a matching one for the other end as well as a single-mode fiber cable? Because the transceiver he linked to is a single-mode type.

 

In my case, I am using a pair and single-node fiber off-coarse.

[TwinPeak]

For readers of special interrest, here is layout of my analog/digital equipment 🙂

[Dev]

yesterday late night I reset the Edgerouter to factory defaults, updated the firmware (the previous firmware was working fine for the last 5yrs and never had issues) and redid the config (you need to configure it as a managed switch instead of a router), used the TPLink SFP and it started working again. Removed the TPLink and inserted the Planetech on both ends and it still works - so I thought problem solved !

 

This morning disconnected the power from eR, waited 30sec, connected the power and back to the same issue - Edgerouter says the link is up (and its has Tx/Rx power) but no packets received on the fiber interface (eth5).    

 

 

I am still scratching my head as to what else I can debug 🤔

[RichB]

I have set-up my (recently arrived) E-Gen in the basement just below my listening room equipment racks. Since taking the pic below, I've run a ground to the main HiFi rigs power conditioner from the E-Gen. The E-Gen's power supply is plugged into a completely different circuit in the basement, and I am wondering that since the E-Gen's switching PSU IS grounded, should I FLOAT the ground on it since the E-Gen is grounded separately directly?

 

Probably I think I will need to try both ways and listen, but was wondering what thinking is about were the best place is to send ground leakage currents etc. with the E-Gen.

 

The B side of the E-Gen goes to a LPS1 powered UltraRendu via Cardas Ethernet cable

[esmit]

1 hour ago, TwinPeak said:

For readers of special interrest, here is layout of my analog/digital equipment 🙂

 

Now it looks as if there is a connection between your Netgear and the Mac mini.

[Frojo]

Is this configuration using a bridged Ethernet connection? In which case the EtheRegen is only ‘filtering’ the nas, which must be incredibly noisy for the improvements achieved.

i am confused...

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, TwinPeak said:

For readers of special interrest, here is layout of my analog/digital equipment.

 

Hi Tom:

Welcome to AudiophileStyle and thanks for posting about your system!

I know that you have one of our Mac mini DC-conversion/Linear Fan Controller Kits (MMK) installed which is great. But a search though our e-mail correspondence did not turn up what power supply you are using with that. Since your Mac mini is your DAC-attached endpoint, the quality of its power supply--especially will all the other fine gear you have surrounding it--will now be quite critical. You know what that means could be next...  

[Superdad]

Just now, Frojo said:

Is this configuration using a bridged Ethernet connection? In which case the EtheRegen is only ‘filtering’ the nas, which must be incredibly noisy for the improvements achieved.

i am confused...

 

I think @TwinPeak's diagram is just in error. I sure hope he does not have his Mac mini still directly attached to his Netgear switch in any way, as that would indeed be a flawed configuration with regards the EtherREGEN. 

[lpost]

3 hours ago, Dev said:

I am still scratching my head as to what else I can debug 🤔

 

I would replace the SFPs and be done with it.  These work great, I prefer 12dB receive attenuator on each end, but they work just fine with a few meter patch.

 

https://www.fs.com/products/12674.html

 

https://www.fs.com/products/48527.html

 

https://www.fs.com/products/68297.html  - 5m is a nice minimum for these SFP made to shoot 10km.  

[Dev]

Sorry, more confusion now.....

 

I connected a Linux pc to the A side port and it seems to work just fine. So apparently it doesn't appear to be SFP port issue on either side that I thought earlier. From inside the Linux pc I can't ping the NUC which is connected on the B side. Moving the NUC to the A side and it works just fine.

 

What does that tell ? issue on the B port ? I will do more tests.